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You’re a Bad Feminist // Guest post

Sorry for the inactivity for the past week, I just started school and whew. Enough said.

On the bright side, I’ve got a guest blog for you! I collabed with the beautiful and intellectual Molly Aldrich-Wincer over from mollyaldrichwincer.wordpress.comto write on pressing social issues today. She has a lot of wonderful ideas to share and I thought we could all benefit from her wise and logical words. Enjoy!

PS. I also wrote up a guest post for her on the relationship (or lack thereof) between makeup and feminism. Not sure when she’ll post it but I’ll keep ya in the know.

You’re a Bad Feminist

People have a lot of opinions when it comes to what makes a “good feminist”. When you openly disclose an element of your identity, others can feel entitled to ask questions and even criticise said identity factor. Once you disclose that you are a feminist, it can trigger all sorts of stereotypes and assumptions – you know the ones: hairy pits, man hater, “feminazi” etc. One pet peeve of mine is when non-feminists question how feminist you really are, based on their limited knowledge on the topic. What is equally as frustrating, is feminists calling other feminists “bad feminists”.

Sometimes people try to make feminism “exclusive” and you have to meet ridiculously high standards to be part of the club. Despite one of the main reasons I love feminism is that it is for everybody and by pursuing equality, we all benefit.

Not so long ago I read a blog that was calling out a well-known celeb, saying that she was a “bad feminist role model”. It left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. We should be challenging those who haven’t even begun to consider the issues of feminism. Of course we should think about our choices and decisions, and even discuss other feminists’ decisions and choices. Anyone who has decided to be open about their feminist beliefs and is trying to grow this important movement, should be recognised and acknowledged for that.

Pitting feminists against each other is a waste of energy and resources. It is encouraging the “cat fight” mentality, one of the MANY issues that feminism is trying to tackle. I also think that when we criticise other feminists, it comes from our own prejudices and insecurities rather than the person we are talking about. There are definitely feminists who make ridiculous statements, mistakes and perhaps don’t practice what they preach. Issues of intersectionalism and recognition of privilege come to mind.

But let’s keep it constructive and positive when we are debating what makes a “good feminist”, not that I am sure that there even is such a thing.